Now officials from The Covenant School say they are trying to do the right thing by seeking a forfeit and apologizing for the margin of victory.

"It is shameful and an embarrassment that this happened," Kyle Queal, the head of the school, said in a statement, adding the forfeit was requested because "a victory without honor is a great loss."

The private Christian school defeated Dallas Academy last week. Covenant was up 59-0 at halftime.

A parent who attended the game told The Associated Press that Covenant continued to make 3-pointers -- even in the fourth quarter. She praised the Covenant players but said spectators and an assistant coach were cheering wildly as their team edged closer to 100 points.

"I think the bad judgment was in the full-court press and the 3-point shots," said Renee Peloza, whose daughter plays for Dallas Academy. "At some point, they should have backed off."

Dallas Academy coach Jeremy Civello told The Dallas Morning News that the game turned into a "layup drill," with the opposing team's guards waiting to steal the ball and drive to the basket. Covenant scored 12 points in the fourth quarter and "finally eased up when they got to 100 with about four minutes left," he said.

Dallas Academy has eight girls on its varsity team and about 20 girls in its high school. It is winless over the last four seasons. The academy boasts of its small class sizes and specializes in teaching students struggling with "learning differences," such as short attention spans or dyslexia.

There is no mercy rule in girls basketball that shortens the game or permits the clock to continue running when scores become lopsided. There is, however, "a golden rule" that should have applied in this contest, said Edd Burleson, the director of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools. Both schools are members of this association, which oversees private school athletics in Texas.

"On a personal note, I told the coach of the losing team how much I admire their girls for continuing to compete against all odds," Burleson said. "They showed much more character than the coach that allowed that score to get out of hand. It's up to the coach to control the outcome."

In the statement on the Covenant Web site, Queal said the game "does not reflect a Christ-like and honorable approach to competition. We humbly apologize for our actions and seek the forgiveness of Dallas Academy, TAPPS and our community."

Covenant coach Micah Grimes did not immediately respond to a message left by The Associated Press on Thursday.

Queal said school officials met with Dallas Academy officials to apologize and praised "each member of the Dallas Academy Varsity Girls Basketball team for their strength, composure and fortitude in a game in which they clearly emerged the winner."

Civello said he appreciated the gesture and has accepted the apology "with no ill feelings."

At a shootaround Thursday, several Dallas Academy players said they were frustrated during the game but felt it was a learning opportunity. They also said they are excited about some of the attention they are receiving from the loss, including an invitation from Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to see an NBA game from his suite.

"Even if you are losing, you might as well keep playing," said Shelby Hyatt, a freshman on the team. "Keep trying, and it's going to be OK."

Peloza said the coach and other parents praised the Dallas Academy girls afterward for limiting Covenant to 12 points in the fourth quarter. She added that neither her daughter nor her teammates seemed to dwell on the loss.

"Somewhere during that game they got caught up in the moment," Peloza said of the Covenant players, fans and coaches. "Our girls just moved on. That's the happy part of the story."

Rzarector7

01-27-09 01:23 AM

Good lord keep playing and positive in the same sentence after getting beat by 100? Are they retarded kids? Handicapped? If not my little nephew at 7 could score more than they did off a luck shot alone, good GOD just quit playing bball your life is over there and you are garbage, period.... Damn that is beyond horrible, you can't be serious? Just stay home next time girls.

Dallas Academy has eight girls on its varsity team and about 20 girls in its high school. It is winless over the last four seasons. The academy boasts of its small class sizes and specializes in teaching students struggling with "learning differences," such as short attention spans or dyslexia.

^^^^^^^^ Oh okay that somewhat explains it there, but even short attention span or dyslexic student can make one shot atleast right? I mean if not why even have them competing and not sending them to the special olympics or some shyt? Good lord.

liquidsky

01-27-09 10:46 AM

The coach from the Covenent School should have been fired on the spot. Ridiculous that he allowed his team press and shoot 3 pointers. What an embarrassment.

Mr.MULLETINO

01-27-09 01:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by liquidsky
(Post 1112393)

The coach from the Covenent School should have been fired on the spot. Ridiculous that he allowed his team press and shoot 3 pointers. What an embarrassment.

Fire a coach for winning?

Fire the other coach for not coaching.

Rzarector7

01-27-09 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by liquidsky
(Post 1112393)

The coach from the Covenent School should have been fired on the spot. Ridiculous that he allowed his team press and shoot 3 pointers. What an embarrassment.

No, it is not firing him for winning; Fire him for having ABSOLUTELY NO CLASS. If this was the NBA, I'd have no problem with it. But, youth sports. Come on. The coach needs to set the example.

100-0?; Why not dump the gatorade on him and carry him off the court? If this coach wants to prove something, why not schedule a game against a 5A school. What goes around comes around. While winning is a big part of youth sports, it is not the only thing.

liquidsky

01-27-09 10:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rzarector7
(Post 1112458)

He did get fired, I read it on another site.....

He got fired, but it was a few days later. I think, he should have been fired on the SPOT.

blaze24k

01-28-09 01:10 AM

he only got fired cause it became a national story--i saw it on CNN and some other news channel too. Everyone has been whining and complaining about the score and yes it's a horrible outcome but seriously how do you make the coach a scapegoat for just coaching his team and for the other team just quite possibly being the worst team in the history of organized sports. Yes he should have taken it easy after halftime but that too can come across as disrespectful and showing up the other team and coach when you let up, idk just my opinion from having played sports all my life. From what I heard parents in the stands were cheering and rooting the team on as they neared 100 points, where are they being held responsible in all of this? I feel the coach should have been suspended but not fired, just the same it doesn't send a good message to his winning team either.

liquidsky

01-28-09 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blaze24k
(Post 1112529)

he only got fired cause it became a national story--i saw it on CNN and some other news channel too. Everyone has been whining and complaining about the score and yes it's a horrible outcome but seriously how do you make the coach a scapegoat for just coaching his team and for the other team just quite possibly being the worst team in the history of organized sports. Yes he should have taken it easy after halftime but that too can come across as disrespectful and showing up the other team and coach when you let up, idk just my opinion from having played sports all my life. From what I heard parents in the stands were cheering and rooting the team on as they neared 100 points, where are they being held responsible in all of this? I feel the coach should have been suspended but not fired, just the same it doesn't send a good message to his winning team either.

I see your point, but as the coach, he is the leader. He needed to step up tell his players to stop pressing and stop shooting 3s. Why not pass the ball around like 7-8 times before taking a shot. I'm sure there is no shot clock. If his parents were cheering for a 100, he needs to let them know that he is the coach and he makes those decisions. As a leader and the coach of a CHRISTIAN school team, he failed miserably. I know if Pop was the coach of the winning team, 100-0 would have NEVER happened.

Funny, I just got an email talking about the coach of the year award for college football (not even Christian high school basketball). Here is the criteria for the award and it is obvious that this high school coach would NOT have won this award:

"In recognition of a higher and more noble aspect of college coaching...a style that emphasizes something more than winning the game...a belief that the game of football should be kept in perspective with college life in general."
Please join The Bobby Dodd Foundation and UT Athletics in honoring Texas Longhorns head football coach Mack Brown, the 2008 Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year award recipient.
The Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award recognizes the Division I college football coach whose team enjoys a successful season on the gridiron while stressing the importance of academic excellence, outstanding leadership, strong character, and integrity.

From my understanding the coach that got fired, still does not believe what he did was wrong. Again, I think he should have been fired on the spot.

dark21horse

01-28-09 04:11 PM

Here is my take on this whole running up the score thing. As it relates to professional athletes, my opinion is that if one team gets the score run up on them, they should have played harder. They are adults and professionals. They have the mental toughness to deal with losing by a wide margin. Kids, for the most part, aren't as mentally tough as professional athletes. Factor in kids with a learning disability and the dynamics change quite a bit. In my opinion, the coach should have eased up off the gas a little. The fact that he didn't speaks to his character and mentality. With his mentality and character, he needs to be coaching professional sports. Not coaching young kids.

satexan77

01-29-09 12:03 AM

In Highschool we played a local private school who ran a full court press against us the whole game. Their SG (6-3) was as tall as our Center and we had one or two guys that might have been the 11th and 12th men on their team (would say JV but our JV team beat their JV team, we had some transfer students that couldnt play varsity). We lost 138-27, no crying no complaining, gave them props afterwards. I had an old buddy on the other team (starter) who played all but 2 minutes and he apologized afterwards but I told him there was no need to. We where a 2A (1A the next year, 3 teams in our district moved up to 3A) team and finshed 15-13 missing out of the playoffs by 1 game in our district. Point is we had no business playing those guys just as these girls had no business playing a team that beat them by 100. Its only news because the other team didnt score, if it was 98-2 nobody would care and life would move on...even the the loss is just as bad.

I've read mixed reports about the game but most recent is that the coach only ran the press in the 1st qtr. If the girls where shooting 3's, even late, those are lower % shots, I mean 100-0 they could have gotten anything they want. No need to cry about it either way...dust yourself off and get ready for the next game. After we got crushed whe won the very next night against a team would should have lost to, these girls reportedly are really bad (limited pool to choose from) so winning isnt the goal but just playing better makes you feel better. Its a rough life lesson but life, unlike a 100-0 game (which could have been worse), is no mercy.

blaze24k

01-29-09 04:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by satexan77
(Post 1112759)

In Highschool we played a local private school who ran a full court press against us the whole game. Their SG (6-3) was as tall as our Center and we had one or two guys that might have been the 11th and 12th men on their team (would say JV but our JV team beat their JV team, we had some transfer students that couldnt play varsity). We lost 138-27, no crying no complaining, gave them props afterwards. I had an old buddy on the other team (starter) who played all but 2 minutes and he apologized afterwards but I told him there was no need to. We where a 2A (1A the next year, 3 teams in our district moved up to 3A) team and finshed 15-13 missing out of the playoffs by 1 game in our district. Point is we had no business playing those guys just as these girls had no business playing a team that beat them by 100. Its only news because the other team didnt score, if it was 98-2 nobody would care and life would move on...even the the loss is just as bad.

I've read mixed reports about the game but most recent is that the coach only ran the press in the 1st qtr. If the girls where shooting 3's, even late, those are lower % shots, I mean 100-0 they could have gotten anything they want. No need to cry about it either way...dust yourself off and get ready for the next game. After we got crushed whe won the very next night against a team would should have lost to, these girls reportedly are really bad (limited pool to choose from) so winning isnt the goal but just playing better makes you feel better. Its a rough life lesson but life, unlike a 100-0 game (which could have been worse), is no mercy.